Curt Barrett
Active member
Been wanting a cougar for awhile now. My wife told me it's the only other critter she is going to free up some wall space for. Kept telling myself each season how I was going to devote time strictly to some cougar hunting till I got one. Being kind of an instant gratification kind of guy though, the faster paced action of coyote calling always kept me from devoting more than a couple days a season to cat calling. My "attention span of a gerbil" nature just didn't mesh well with those 1 hour stands. LOL! With the close of the season coming next Sunday and it looking likely I will have to work next Saturday, yesterday seemed like the last chance to "get er' done".
I left the house at the crack of 10:30 AM. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Arrived at the calling area about 40 minutes later. I encountered a long muddy section of road and decided that was far enough. I got my truck off the road and began walking in further. After awhile I found a spot that looked like a good place to make a stand. I wasn't seeing much for animal sign other than some hound tracks and man tracks. After an hour of calling with no takers, I moved on. The weather was beautiful. Warm, sunny, with a very slight breeze. Here is a pic of one of the views on the way to my next stand...
After walking far enough that I felt I was calling fresh ground again, I ventured down a skid trail till I came to a clearing. I had been to this spot before. Last time I was there, a huge slash pile was in the middle of the clearing. Since my last visit the pile had been burned. Now the clearing was transformed into a attractive calling stand with a good view. I set the Foxpro on a log at the edge of the burn pile. I found a good place to sit under some low hanging fir tree branches. Started the stand with some fawn distress on the Foxpro. Let it play for about 15 minutes. Then switched to some cougar vocalizations. About this time I'm cussing the unseasonably warm weather as I feel ants crawling in my pant legs.
After another 5-10 mnutes I see some movement coming through the trees. I adjust my aim slightly to the left to get squared up with the critter about to emerge. Out comes an eager cougar at a trot to investigate the sounds coming from the burn pile. It was coming in as fast as a coyote. None of that sneaky stuff. Not even enough time to get very excited. My first instinct is to bark to stop it. Talk about a one track mind. LOL! Then the cougar stops about 25 yards away from the call to look things over. I took the oppurtunity to shoot. When I shot I saw the cougar jump slightly so I was confident of a solid hit. It managed to run a short distance making it behind some trees. I racked another round in the chamber and went to look for it. I didn't see it where I expected it to be and started wondering if I made a poor shot. I circled and found it quite dead a short distance from where I shot it. Hit it behind the shoulder where I aimed. The little Sierra 55gr. HP did it's job well. The cat was making that internal sloshing sound that denotes the vitals taking a good hit. Tiny hole going in and no exit.
Here is a pic of the stand. The caller is sitting on a log under the red arrow at the edge of the burnt slash pile. The cougar stopped for the shot under the green arrow.
More pics....
Don't say it... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Anyway, I stayed home from work today to deal with taking the meat to the butcher, meeting the game warden to get the hide sealed and a tooth pulled from the skull. Got home and literally pulled in the driveway right behind the UPS man who was delivering the new Rock River upper I ordered. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Life is good...for today anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I left the house at the crack of 10:30 AM. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Arrived at the calling area about 40 minutes later. I encountered a long muddy section of road and decided that was far enough. I got my truck off the road and began walking in further. After awhile I found a spot that looked like a good place to make a stand. I wasn't seeing much for animal sign other than some hound tracks and man tracks. After an hour of calling with no takers, I moved on. The weather was beautiful. Warm, sunny, with a very slight breeze. Here is a pic of one of the views on the way to my next stand...
After walking far enough that I felt I was calling fresh ground again, I ventured down a skid trail till I came to a clearing. I had been to this spot before. Last time I was there, a huge slash pile was in the middle of the clearing. Since my last visit the pile had been burned. Now the clearing was transformed into a attractive calling stand with a good view. I set the Foxpro on a log at the edge of the burn pile. I found a good place to sit under some low hanging fir tree branches. Started the stand with some fawn distress on the Foxpro. Let it play for about 15 minutes. Then switched to some cougar vocalizations. About this time I'm cussing the unseasonably warm weather as I feel ants crawling in my pant legs.
After another 5-10 mnutes I see some movement coming through the trees. I adjust my aim slightly to the left to get squared up with the critter about to emerge. Out comes an eager cougar at a trot to investigate the sounds coming from the burn pile. It was coming in as fast as a coyote. None of that sneaky stuff. Not even enough time to get very excited. My first instinct is to bark to stop it. Talk about a one track mind. LOL! Then the cougar stops about 25 yards away from the call to look things over. I took the oppurtunity to shoot. When I shot I saw the cougar jump slightly so I was confident of a solid hit. It managed to run a short distance making it behind some trees. I racked another round in the chamber and went to look for it. I didn't see it where I expected it to be and started wondering if I made a poor shot. I circled and found it quite dead a short distance from where I shot it. Hit it behind the shoulder where I aimed. The little Sierra 55gr. HP did it's job well. The cat was making that internal sloshing sound that denotes the vitals taking a good hit. Tiny hole going in and no exit.
Here is a pic of the stand. The caller is sitting on a log under the red arrow at the edge of the burnt slash pile. The cougar stopped for the shot under the green arrow.
More pics....
Don't say it... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Anyway, I stayed home from work today to deal with taking the meat to the butcher, meeting the game warden to get the hide sealed and a tooth pulled from the skull. Got home and literally pulled in the driveway right behind the UPS man who was delivering the new Rock River upper I ordered. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Life is good...for today anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
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